Friday, July 6, 2018

Second life is known for showcasing spectacular collaborative SIMs. No place is this more apparent that the area set aside for such builds at the LEA SIMs. LEA, or Lindon Endowment for the Arts, has expanded since the original conception for this group. Now at the fifteen-year mark of SL, LEA has a landing area is set up so you may go through the latest builds easily. Dragon Shichiroji is the driving force, the cohesion behind the new LEA9 build titled “Gaia’s Quest”.

Dragon is an unassuming and generous man whom I consider a dear friend. In real life and SL, Mental health and wellbeing are paramount to Dragon. His real life experiences have given him the perfect basis to be the architect of LEA 9. When I asked him what brought him to SL he said “Actually it was following a sojourn into south India in a time I was not working and trying to find myself, I came across the concept of a community free of money and material concerns focused on developing aspiration for growth and unity and creating a sense of belonging. I came to SL with this concept in mind and wanting to bring it to manifestation so that I could also learn skills that would better my professional real life.” I also asked him if he could invite any celebrity to SL who would he choose? He said Teal Swan the noted spiritual teacher and intuitive. His inworld residence, Mystic Farms, is a tribute to the care and the humanity he brings to our virtual world. Mystic Academy is the largest spiritual community in Second Life. At Mystic you can find a variety of practices such as meditation, New Age and Tantra [many more]. Mystic Farms also allows those in need of a home base, to set their home to this location. Mystic Academy is always happy for volunteers, just IM Dragon.

To prepare for my foray into LEA9, I reread an excellent book of mine titled “Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth”. I recommend this book as the perfect complement to the build. Most of this book was written in Ireland a place where “tribal warfare has never been far from the scene”. With LEA9 Gaia, Dragon and his group have worked hard and achieved an experience that maximizes the senses in SL. For the full experience, follow the hunt which is like an “Immersive Indiana Jones” to experience and to interact with most of the build. There are several tribe cultures beautifully carved into this Gaia. I was awestruck moving through the SIM, the colors, the detail is hypnotic. As you comb through the experience, allow yourself the time to move at your own pace and plan to retrace a few steps. There are places that take more than one pass to fully appreciate the message and the design.

One of the missions of LEA9 is to share the diversity of ancient culture, wisdom and history. Wade Davis, a contributor to thestar.com, says that there must be a “wake-up call to the value of ancient wisdom”. In his discussion he mentions many of the sources traditionally used for that which we call “ancient wisdom”. He relates a thought many of us feel. We are experiencing “a waterfall of destruction unprecedented in the history of our species. In our lifetime half of the voices of humanity are being silenced”. Powerful thoughts and images of the cultural adaptations we have experienced fill my head. LEA9 pulls together that which has been neglected, lost, or thrown away. This build shines a light on these wisdoms in each tribal space. As I spent time at LEA9, I found that if I remained still, listening and watching my environment more was revealed to me. This is true for all of us. Walk down a path at LEA9 once, and you see a great deal of information. Walk down that path again, more slowly, and like a flower opening the flow of what is going on around you opens more for you. Come back another day, you find you did not waste your time with multiple trips. Instead each time you walk the path, you experience more and you learn more. The biggest lesson I learned by walking around LEA9 was to reawaken my own respect for ancient wisdom. Not only wisdom from long ago, but that wisdom that swirls around us every day.

LEA9 is not limited to the optimism of Voltaire’s Dr. Pangloss well known for his idea “best of all possible worlds”. There is a Downtown Dystopia area, amazing for the detail of the creation, sobering for the possibilities and fate of Gaia. “It might seem to be a surrender, but I suspect that the rewards, in the form of an increased sense of well-being and fulfillment, in knowing ourselves to be a dynamic part of a far greater entity, would be worth the loss of tribal freedom.”

For me, attending one of the presentations was a profound way to “see” objectives of LEA9. I attended a colorful presentation underwater. Synced dancing mermaids and mermen decorated the stage while messages were displayed behind them. Messages of consideration and of thoughtfulness to enable participants to use mindful observation to ‘take notice’. The sensory information poured on the audience. We could ‘connect’, ‘give’ and ‘learn’ while the show was taking place. The performers brought it all together by inviting all to participate in dance thus allowing us to “keep active”. The last part of this was the part that affected me most deeply. The colors and the particles were every changing, vivid almost alive. The messages continued to cycle on the stage. The sounds, those sounds were hypnotic to me. I was mesmerized by watching everyone moving gracefully like mermaids. The music entered my ears as I watched, I was completely in the moment presented to me.

Rare is the experience in any life that may touch someone so deeply. Here at LEA9, touching its visitors deeply is exactly what Dragon and crew have planned for them.